Importance of National Content in public spending

The Maputo International Fair took place this year between Aug. 31 and Sept. 6 under the motto “Promotion of the Economic Potential of Independent Mozambique” with 2,950 companies and institutions exhibiting, 680 of them foreign.
On Sept. 3, in partnership with the Investment Promotion Centre (CPI), the Office for Accelerated Development Economic Zones (GAZEDA) and Agency Zambezi, the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA) organized a seminar to promote the investment potential of Mozambique.
The CPI presented the various investment opportunities at the national level while GAZEDA detailed the specific economic zones of accelerated development and tax benefits. Agency Zambezi presented the riches of the Zambezi Valley and the catalytic role of public and private investment opportunities.
In his turn, Eduardo Sengo, an economist at the CTA, presented the concept of National Content, a term preferred to “Local Content” by the CTA, which considers the former term to be clearer.

National Content is:
– Capacity building and the promotion of local businesses to participate in major projects in the field of natural resources.
– The training of local resources for the involvement of companies in the industry (both upstream and downstream).

According to Sengo, the Mozambican government is one of the largest purchasers of goods and services and it plays a key role in the development of national content and therefore should provide maximum utilisation of local equipment, services and capacities in public spending.
The private sector must adapt its investment approach to socio-economic context, hence it is necessary to know the planning instruments and government priorities, align private investment with them and create partnerships to ensure a certain volume to meet demand, Sengo said. Government spending has a role to play to bring more dynamism to the economy and produce more inclusive growth, he said.

For a full presentation, click HERE.